


Through a Silver Storm

by themutesinger



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Anastasia Fusion, Bilbo is the heir to the Took line of Russia, Happy Ending, Multi, The palantir is the holy relic, Thorin is super adorkable, Will include musical numbers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-17 18:44:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3540065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themutesinger/pseuds/themutesinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Journey of William, an orphan boy headed to Paris to find the family he cannot remember. Along the way he'll discover love, home, and family can come to you in the least expected of ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I apparently have no self-control... Thankfully this one won't be too long, only five chapters or so :) I just watched the movie and this idea wouldn't leave me alone, so here you go! Bagginshield Anastasia AU!

Russia was once ruled by a powerful family, known as the Tooks, who lived in grand opulence. They had riches beyond compare, and held the most marvelous parties. It was at one of these parties that the great Took line met its doom.

It seemed like any other party; Belladonna Took, the beautiful Tsarina, danced with her handsome young son, the spitting image of his golden father, with his mother's dazzling smile and bright laugh. He eventually pulled away to speak with his Grandpapa, who was leaving for Paris in a weeks time. He sat upon his grandfather's knee, presenting him with a crudely drawn girl sat on a cushioned bench. " Must you go Grandpapa? I will miss you terribly," the boy said, his lips pulled into a spectacular pout; one which often got him his way with his father. 

" You know I do my dear Bilbo, but remember, as long as you have your music box, I will always be with you." Bilbo slips said music box out of the pocket of his blue trousers, his hat falling off of his head in his fervor. He takes the chain from around his neck and slips the acorn shaped key into the lock and turns it. A song starts to play and the glowing jewel inside of the music box begins to spin. As one, he and his Grandpapa begin to sing: " On the wind, across the sea, hear my song and remember. Soon you'll be, home with me. Once upon a December." 

" Oh Grandpapa!" Bilbo flung his arms around his grandfather.

" Just play the song and imagine that I am singing it with you and it will feel like no time at all until we are together again." Bilbo nods happily and it is then that the ballroom door slams open. The lights dim and the crowd parts quickly. A single figure can be seen stalking towards the Royal Family. " Saruman, you were banished from the Palace. Leave, you have no business here!" Belladonna says, her voice strong and sure. Bungo stands firm by her side, her hand clutching his arm.

" Do I not?" Saruman says, his voice hoarse and vile. " Why should I not enter the halls of those who betrayed me? I seek revenge! You will RUE the day you crossed me! I place a curse on the Took line! You will all be dead within a fortnight! Enjoy your opulence, while you can! Do Svedaniya Your Highnesses!" The man shatters the beautiful chandelier with his glowing black orb and disappears in a cloud of black smoke. 

                            .~~~~~~~~.

In order to ensure his vengeance upon the Tooks, Saruman sold his soul for the power to destroy them. The Demon Lord Sauron granted him the ability to summon his armies of smokey Orcs through the Palantir, Saruman's black orb.

" Go my minions, fulfill your dark purpose." 

Saruman sends the Orcs out in the dark of night, inciting the ember of discord in Russia into a blazing flame. The palace is attacked by revolutionaries, forcing all to flee. Bilbo is running with his grandfather when he remembers his music box, and runs back to his room. His grandfather follows after him, as does a fleeing servant boy. When they arrive at Bilbo's room, they hear the revolutionaries through the door nd the servant boy opens a hidden door in the wall, ushering them through it. Bilbo drops his music box and the last thing he sees before the wall closes is the boy's bright blue eyes. The boy picks up the music box, and is knocked unconscious by a passing revolutionary's gun. 

                              .~~~~~~~.

 Bilbo and his grandfather run down the frozen river , desperate to catch a bus out of St. Petersburg. Suddenly Bilbo is grabbed around his ankle and pulled to the ground, Saruman behind him. " You will not escape me! I will have the death of ALL the Tooks!" 

" No, let go of me! Grandpapa!" Gandalf grabs Bilbo's hand, trying to get him away from Saruman. The ice cracks under Saruman's weight and the suddenness of it sends Saruman slipping back into the ice-covered river releasing his grip on Bilbo's ankle. Saruman slides under the ice, the last thing seen of him a skeletal hand. Bilbo and Gandalf run to catch the bus and a man is able to pull Gandalf aboard, but Bilbo gets left behind.

" Bilbo! Take my hand!" Bilbo manages to get a weak grip on his grandfather's palm.

" Grandpapa, don't let go!" Gandalf tried to hold on, and Bilbo struggles for a moment more before their hands seperate. Bilbo falls to the platform, and his head smacks against the stone. 

"Bilbo!"

**TEN YEARS LATER**

Much has changed since the revolution, the streets of St. Petersburg are bleak and gray, and the people poor and miserable. The only thing they live for is gossip and selling odds and ends from the remnants of the Royal Palace. As comrades shuffle on about their jobs, they silently sing their woes.

 " St. Petersburg is gloomy." A wizened man begins, punching in at his factory job.

"Saint Petersburg is bleak." The woman in line behind him finishes.

"My underwear got frozen from standing here all week." A chilled man sings, shivering in an engine room.

" Ever since the Revolution, our lives have been so gray. Thank goodness for the gossip, that gets us through the day!" The factory's workers chorus togther.

"Have you heard? There's a rumour in St. Petersburg. Have you heard, what they're saying on the street?" People sing as they walk to their low-paying jobs. 

" Although the Tsarina did not survive, there may be one son still alive!" Sings the newspaper seller, closing his window at the sight of the guards.

" The young Prince Bilbo!" Rings through the streets, guards glaring citizens into silence. 

" But please do not repeat." The newseller adds.

" It's a rumour, a legend, a mystery. Something whispered in the alleyway or through a crack. It's a rumour that's part of our history!" the people chorus in the streets, rushing about their business.

"They say his Royal Grandpapa will pay a Royal sum-" begins a woman, finished by the citizens' chorus.

" To someone who can bring his young Prince back!"

"A ruble for this painting, it's Took, I swear!". A Haggler says in a back alley.

" Count Yusopov's pajamas, Comrades buy the pair." Another sings.

" I got these from the Palace, it's lined with real fur." A third haggler says.

" It could be worth a fortune, if it belonged to him!" The chorus finishes, including a handsome man with long dark hair tied in a tail at the nape of his neck. The man and his grandfatherly friend collect various items from their small flat, stuffing things into suitcases. 

" Well Thorin, I've gotten us the theater," the portly man says. 

" Excellent! Now all we need is the boy! This is it Balin! No more forging papers, no more stolen goods! We'll have three tickets out of here; one for you, or for me, and one for Prince Bilbo! I'll be able to get the boys out with the reward money!" Thorin responds.

"It's the rumour, the legend, the mystery. It's the young Prince Bilbo who will help us fly. You and I friend, we'll go down in history!" Thorin sings. " We'll find a boy to play the part, and teach him what to say. We'll dress him up and take him to Paris. Imagine the reward his dear old Grandpapa will pay. Who else could pull it off but you and me? We'll be rich!"

" We'll be rich!" Balin, a round, white-haired man repeats.

" We'll be out!" The man adds.

" We'll be out!" His friend repeats.

" And St. Petersburg will have some more to talk about!" They sing together.

" Shh! Have you heard? There's a rumour in St. Petersburg. Have you heard, what they're saying on the street? Hey!" The chorus sings in a whisper. They dance in in their Russian way, squatting and kicking their legs out, then their voices pick up again.

"Hey! Have you heard? There's a rumour in St. Petersburg. Have you heard? Comrades what do you suppose? A fascinating mystery!" 

"The biggest con in history!" The dark-haired man sings.

" The Prince Bilbo! Alive or dead?"

" Who knows? Shh!" A man cleaning an eyrie says, startling his birds. As the song ends, St. Petersburg goes back to its business, sated temporarily by the gossip. 

                             .~~~~~~~~.

The orphanage is dismal, black all over in the dim dawn light, yellow candlelight filtering through the windows. " Goodbye William! We'll miss you!" Children call from the doorway. William, a short skinny young man, hair hidden under a blue paperboy cap, waves back excitedly. Suddenly a little boy with black curly hair darts forward and wraps his arms around William's legs. " Don't go William!" William sighs and kneels in the snow to wrap his arms around the little boy. 

" I have to go Frodo, I have to get money for us. When I have enough I'll come back and get you!" 

" Promise?" The boy asks, wiping the tears falling from his eyes. 

" Promise!" Frodo smiles and kisses William's cheek, then runs back into the orphanage. 

" Enough with the sentiment! Go on, get out of here!" A haggard looking older woman says, pushing William out of the orphanage. " And remember, turn-"

" Left at the fork in the road to get to the fisherman's village. I know Lobelia!" William says.

" Funny how you can remember that but you can't remember where you came from!"

" I do have a clue!" William says, fiddling with the acorn pendant that lies on a chain round his neck. 

" Ah, yes. Together in Paris!" Lobelia days mockingly. " So you want to go to France to find your family?" William nods. " Well, you can forget that! It's time you grew up little Master William and took your place in this world! Ten years I've fed you and clothed you and nothing to show for it but your ungratefulness! Bah! Together in Paris!" Lobelia mutters, locking the gate as soon as William is outside it.

                          .~~~~~~~~.

" Bah! Ungrateful. I am grateful! Grateful to get away! Oh, but I musn't say that, Frodo is counting on me." William walks up to the fork in the road. " Go left. If I go left I'll be William the orphan forever. But if I go right... Whoever gave me this necklace must have loved me. Maybe they could help Frodo too. But that's crazy! Me? Go to Paris? Ugh! Send me a sign! A hint? Anything!" He slumps upon a rock, his scarf trailing out of his baggy green coat. His scarf which is now hanging from the mouth of a little brown dog with the floopiest of ears, slightly curled at the tips. " Hey! I don't have time to play right now little guy! I'm waiting for a sign. Can you just give me that back?" He pulls on the scarf and the dog leaps out if he way, wraping it around William's legs, despite his sputtered protests, until he trips, looking out toward St. Petersburg. " Lovely, a dog wants me to go to St. Petersburg. Oh! Okay, I can take a hint!" William retrieves his scarf and begins to walk down the road.

" Heart, don't fail me now. Courage, don't desert me. Don't turn back, now that we're here! People always say, life is full of choices. No one ever mentions fear or how the world can seem so vast. On a journey to the past!" William sings, throwing snow into the air, the little dog trying to eat it. A horse drawn sleigh rides past, knocking him over into the snow. " Somewhere down this road, I know someone's waiting. Years of dreams just can't be wrong. Arms will open wide, I'll be safe and wanted, finally home where I belong! Well starting now I'm learning fast! On this journey, to the past!" William cuddles the dog and skips off down the road to St. Petersburg, smiling all the way until the reach a small village. Where they play with a group of small children until the children's parents call them away for supper. 

" Home, love, family. There was once a time I must have had them to. Home, love, family. I will never be complete until I find you!" William sings, spinning his dog around then marching resolutely out of the town.

" One step at a time. One hope then another. Who knows where this road may go? Back to who I was, on to find my future. Things my heart still needs to know." William walks over a fallen log, kicking up snow as he skips onwards. " Yes! Let this be a sign! Let this road be mine! Let it lead me to my past, and bring me home... At last!" William sings, his arms rising in the air as he observes St. Basil's, arriving at the start of his new beginning.  


	2. One Hope, Then Another

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William meets Thorin and the journey to Paris begins.

" One ticket to Paris please!" William says, optimism oozing from him, evidenced in the way he bounces on his heels. 

" Exit visa!" The ticket man says, his voice loud and rough.

" Exit visa?" William questions.

" No exit visa? No ticket!" The man yells, slamming the booth shut. William bites his lip and starts to wander away dejectedly. A wizened older woman pulls on his coat to get his attention.

" See Thorin, he can help you." 

" Where can I find him?"

" At the old Palace. But you didn't hear it from me!" 

" Oh, thank you!" The old woman nods, sending William away with waving hands.

                             .~~~~~~~.

" Nice, Nice, very nice," Thorin says to the umpteenth failed auditioner that day, this one a dragon of a man with red hair and a scaly demeanor. The man won't stop talking and so Thorin shuts him up with an exclamation of " Next please!"

The next man to walk in is dressed in heavy furs, smoke leaking out of a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He is tall and blond and nothing at all like Prince Bilbo looked as a child. " Grandpa! It's me, Bilbo!" He says, his voice rough with smoke and his syllables overdrawn. Balin sighs and slumps against the table. "Oh brother," Thorin whispers.

\----

" That's it Thorin, game over! That was our last hopeful, and we still have no man to be Bilbo!" Balin says, throwing papers about in frustration as they head back to the Palace.

" He's out there Balin, right under our noses! Don't forget, as soon as the Emporer sees this jewellery box, he'll think we've brought the real Bilbo!" Thorin says, holding out a little round music box, gold with blue enamel and sapphires. Thorin bumps into a small man without a second glance, prompting and angry "Excuse me!" As Thorin and Balin walk away. The small man turns to the person he was talking to.

" Do you know where I can find the Palace?"

" No! There's no one living there, go on!" William sighs and walks away, wandering about until he finds a boarded up entryway that his little dog slips through. 

" Bofur! Bofur where are you?" William calls, pearing through cracks in the boards. He pulls on a section of boarding until it breaks off into a hole he can easily fit through and enters the Palace in search of his dog. 

\---

" Did you hear something?" Thorin asks Balin, who shakes his head and goes back to eating his supper. Thorin however frowns and slowly moves to the door to check it out.

\---

" Hello! Is anybody home?" William calls out, cautiously climbing a set of stairs, shedding his outer clothing as he goes, leaving him in a tattered belted yellow tunic and patchy brown trousers. The Palace is grand and beautiful despite the layers of dust covering everything and he cannot help but be entranced. Eventually his wandering takes him to a ballroom and Bofur bounds off to hide under a table, William approaching with caution. He blows dust from a silver plate and looks at his reflection when a flash of an image dances across the surface. He meanders over to a small table in front of a cracked mirror, wiping a dusty vase to reveal dancing bears and painted swans. " This place... It's like a memory, from a dream." He looks at his reflection in the mirror and for a moment sees himself wearing a crown. 

" Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember, and a song someone sings, Once upon a December." William sings, spinning slowly on the marble floors, wrapping his arms around himself. " Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm, figures dancing gracefully, across my memory..." And suddenly figures from his memories burst forth from the paintings. A rainbow of ballgowns twirl and spin around him, glittering and brilliant. Their partners hold them securely and they dance to the song that permeates William's memories. From one larger portrait at the top of the stairs a family comes forth, young ones running after each other, and two older girls come forth and take William's hands and spin him around. In a swirl of sparkles his clothes change; he's wearing a light blue suit jacket, fitted to his slender frame, opened to reveal a sparkling white waistcoat and golden ascot with golden-yellow trousers and a white-gold circlet resting over his loose curls. " Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm, figures dancing gracefully across my memory. Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember, things my heart used to know, things it yearns to remember." William dances with memory figures, both male and female, spinning around the ballroom, until he stops in front of two figures dressed more grandly then all the rest and bows to them. He takes the woman's hand and leads her in a dance. " And a song someone sings... Once upon a December..." The woman kisses William's forehead before vanishing. William sinks to the floor and sighs. 

" Hey! What're you doing in here?" William looks up startled as a man starts to run at him and he quickly jumps up and tries to run away. "Hey! Hey! Hold on a second!" William stops, obviously caught and sighs. " How did you get in he- ere." Thorin stutters as he stares at the young man, then looks at the portrait of the royal family behind him. Golden curls, big green eyes, there was no doubting the man's resemblance to Prince Bilbo. Balin finally catches up with them huffing. " Balin do you see what I see?"

" No." Thorin flicks Balin's glasses over his eyes." Oh, yes! Yes I do." William is slightly impatient at being gawked over and crosses his arms. 

" Are you Thorin then?"

" That depends on who's looking for him."

"My name is William. I was told you were the person to see about travel papers? Of course I'm not supposed to tell you who said that." Thorin just makes a non-committal grunt and circles him. " Honestly, how rude, were you a vulture in another life or something?" 

" I'm sorry Willy-"

" William!"

" William. It's just you look a lot like... Never mind. You said something about travel papers?"

" Um, yes. I'd like to go to Paris!"

" You'd like to go to Paris?" Thorin exclaims and turns to Balin, only to find him playing with the small dog, making faces at it and cooing nonsense. He rolls his eyes and turns back to William. " Now let me ask you something, William, is it? Is there a last name that goes with that?"

" That's actually the funny thing about all this, I can't remember. I was found wandering around when I was eight years old. I know it's strange but I have very few memories of my past."

 " Hmm, well that's, that's perfect" Thorin mumbles.

" The only clue I have is Paris!" William adds, fiddling with his necklace. " So, can you two help me or not?"

"Balin, hand me the tickets!" Thorin hisses under his breath. Balin takes them out and plops three tickets in Thorin's palm. " Oddly enough we're going to Paris ourselves. But we only have three tickets. One for me, one for Balin, and one for him, Bilbo." Thorin says while pointing to the boy in the portrait. 

" Oh," William says as he's pulled along. 

" We are going to reunite Bilbo with his grandfather," Balin says grandly.

"You do kind of resemble him." Thorin throws in.

" You have his bright green eyes, the Took eyes." Balin adds.

" You have Belladonna's smile! And Bungo's chin!"

" And he even has the grandfather's hands!" Balin coos.

" He's the same age, the same physical type!"

" Are you trying to tell me you think I'm Prince Bilbo?" William says, throwing the pair his best skeptically raised eyebrow. 

" I'm saying that I've seen thousands of boys all over the country, and not one of them looks as much like the Grand Duke as you do. Just look at the portrait!"

" I knew you were crazy from the beginning but now I think you're both mad!" William says, throwing his hands up and beginning to walk away.

"Why?" Thorin asks. " You don't know what happened to you-"

"- And no one knows what happened to him!" Balin finishes.

" You're looking for family in Paris-"

"- And his only family is in Paris!"

" Have you ever though of the possibility?" Thorin asks, his hands on William's shoulders. 

" That _I_ could be royalty?"

"Mhm!" Thorin and Balin chorus. Bofur jumps up into William's arms and he pets him absently as he thinks.

" I don't know, it's kind of hard to imagine being royalty when you're sleeping on a damp floor, but sure, I guess every lonely boy wishes he was a Prince."

" And somewhere, one little boy is." Balin says. Thorin checks his watch and huffs at the time.

" Really wish we could help but the third ticket is for the Grand Duke Bilbo. Good luck!" Thorin says, ushering Balin down the stairs. 

" Why didn't you tell him about the plan?"

" He just wants to get to Paris, why give away a third of the reward money?"

" I still say we're waking away too soon!"

" Relax, I've got this under control! Walk a little slower." At the top of the stairs William sighs and touches the painting of the golden-haired child. " Three... Two... One..."

"Thorin!" William calls.

" Right in the palm of our hands!" 

" Thorin wait!" 

" I'm sorry, did you call me?"

"If I don't remember who I am, then who's to say I'm not a Prince or a duke or whatever he is, right?" Thorin 'mhm's in acknowledgement. " And if I'm not Bilbo, the Emporer will certainly know right away and it's all just an honest mistake!"

"Sounds plausible."

" And if you are the Prince, you'll finally know who you are and have your family back!" Balin says, wrapping an arm around William's shoulders.

" You know, he's right! And either way it gets you to Paris!" 

" Right!" William exclaims, taking Thorin's hand to shake it. Thorin yelps in surprise.

" Quite the handshake you have there." He mumbles. As they exit the building Thorin exclaims, " May I present to you, the Grand Duke Bilbo!"

" Bofur, we are going to Paris!" William cries happily.

                             .~~~~~~~~.

In the rafters of the ballroom a white bat with a patch of black fur on Its head listens in on the conversation below. 

" Bilbo? Just one problem there fella, Bilbo's dead!" The bat says, the orb beside it pulsing with a green glow. " All the Tooks are dead. Dead, dead, dead! Am I right my friend?" The bat looks at the Palantir, and a smoke orc hisses at him. " Oh, come on. Am I supposed to believe that this thing woke up after years of being asleep just being some man says that he's a Took?" The Green smoke just billows more, blowing into the bat's face. " Okay, okay! Enough with the glowing and the smoke already, I get it! But that means... Bilbo's alive! And that's him. Whoa!" The Palantir starts to move, the rope wrapped around it hooking into the bat's leg. It pulls him down into the spirit realm, through many different layers until it reaches a floating planet-like shape and dumps him on a rock.

" Oh boy, I tell you what, ow!"

" Who dares intrude upon my solitude?" A raspy voice calls, and a shadowy man approaches, kicking something on his way. "Get out I tell you!" The man screams and as he picks up the bat, the man is revealed to be Saruman. " Wormtongue? Is that you?"

" Master? You're alive?" Wormtongue says.

" Bah! In a manner of speaking!" Saruman spits out, his eyeball popping out of its socket. 

" Oh, uh, that fell right out there, sir."

" Something's happened Wormtongue." Surman states, putting his eyeball back where it belongs.

" Yes, it has sir!"

" I knew it! I could feel the dark forces stirring!"

" I'm sure they have been, because I saw him, Bilbo!"

"Bilbo? Alive?" Saruman's lips slide below his chin, into his long salt and pepper beard. 

" Uh, sir, your lips..." Wormtongue says, pushing them back up.

" That Took brat! No wonder I've been stuck in this dismal limbo! My curse is unfulfilled!"  Saruman's hand flies off, taking Wormtongue with it. Saruman gasps wretchedly at the sight. " Look at me! I am falling apart... I'm a wreck!" 

" Actually, you look pretty good considering how long you've been dead sir." Wormtongue says as he re-attaches the hand.

" If only I hadn't lost the Palantir, the key to the power of the dark forces!"

" What, you mean this old thing?" Wormtongue rolls over the Palantir.

" Where do you get that?" Saruman screams. "Give it to me!" He grabs the Palantir and spins with it.

" Alright, alright. No need to get so grabby."

" Together at last. Now my dark purpose will be fulfilled and the last of the Tooks will die!!!" Green lightning flashes from the Palantir, held aloft in Saruman's hand as he begins to sing. 

"In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning, and the nightmare I had was as bad as can be. It scared me out of my wits, a corpse falling to bits! Then I opened my eyes and the nightmare was, me!" Insects pop out of the ground to serve as background singers and dancers, surrounding Wormtongue as Saruman moves through his rocky home. " I was once the most mystical man in all Russia! When the Royals betrayed me they made a mistake. My curse made each of them pay, but one little boy got away. Little William beware, Saruman is awake!" Saruman looks at William through a smoke mirror then slashes his hand through the image. 

'In the dark of the night evil will find him, in the dark of the night just before dawn." The insects chorus.

" Revenge will be sweet, when the curse is complete!" Saruman sings, raising his skeletal arms. 

"In the dark of the night-"

"He'll be gone! I can feel that my powers are slowly returning. Tie my sash and a dash of cologne for that smell!  As the pieces fall into place, I'll see him crawl into place. Do svedaniya William, your Grace, farewell!" Saruman wraps a cloak around his shoulders and sprays himself with something in front of a mirror as his thoughts race with the many ways he could have Bilbo killed.

" In the dark of the night, terror will find him." The insects chorus as they head deeper into the planet, down a flight of winding stairs.

" Terror's the least I can do!" Saruman adds.

" In the dark of the night evil will brew, Ooo."

" Soon, he will feel that his nightmares are real! Saruman sings, his mouth curved in a wicked grin.

" In the dark of the night-" The insects begin.

" He'll be through!" Saruman finishes.

"In the dark of the night, evil will find him." The insect chorus sings.

" Find him!" A particularly deep-voiced bug sings.

" In the dark of the night terror comes true."

"Doom him!" The deep voiced bug chimes in.

" My dear, here's a sign, it's the end of the line!" Saruman sings as he approaches the centre of his floating home. 

" In the dark of the night, in the dark of the night."

" Come my minions, rise for your Master, let your evil shine. Find him now, yes fly ever faster." Saruman sings as his smoke orcs fly out of the Palantir into a green column, flying off to wreak havoc on the last of the Took line.

" In the dark of the night, in the dark of the night, in the dark of the night-" The insects chorus with increasing urgency, hiding from the orcs. 

" He'll be mine!" Saruman finishes, cackling wickedly. 

                             .~~~~~~.

The train to Paris is quite nice, with comfortable seats and fairly spacious  compartments with large windows. William takes a seat by the window, observing the world outside with wide eyes and a soft smile. Thorin watches him, his eyes crinkling at the corners until he realizes what he's doing and shakes his head. " Sit up straight and stop fiddling with that necklace, that's not how a Grand Duke sits."

" And just how do you know what Grand Dukes do and do not do?" William replies snarkily, stretching his legs out on the seat on front of him. Balin sighs as he finishes up the travel papers in blue ink, tickling Bofur's stomach with his quill. 

" I make it my business to know." Thorin replies, crossing his arms and scowling in a way most find intimidating. William shoots him an unimpressed look and turns away. "Look, William I'm just trying to help, alright?" Balin scoffs and rolls his eyes.

" Thorin, you really think I'm royalty?" 

" Yes, of course I do!" 

" Then stop bossing me around!" Thorin grunts angrily and looks out the window of the train compartment door while William goes back to looking out the window. Balin chuckles and adds a point for William in his tally of their arguments. 

\--- 

" Look, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot here," Thorin begins, scratching the back of his neck. 

" I do to, and I appreciate your apology," William says over the top of the book he's reading about Paris. 

" Apology? Who said anything about an apology? I was only trying to say-"

" Please, just stop talking, you're only going to upset me."

"Fine! I'll stop talking if you will!"

" Fine." It only takes a moment of silence for William to speak again. " Do you think you're going to miss it?"

" What your talking?"

" No! Russia!"

" No."

" But it's your home?"

" It's just a place I once lived. I just want to find something better for my nephews, then take them out of that place forever." William looks up sharply at the mention of nephews, his eyes widening. 

" I'm trying to do the same for Frodo." 

" Frodo?"

" A boy from the orphanage I lived in. I made a promise that I'd come back for him once I had enough money." William looks out the window again, a fond smile playing on his lips. " He was brought in as a baby and I, being the oldest, was charged with his care more often than not. He's like a brother to me." The silence grows heavy after that and William breaks it by clearing his throat. " Are you planning on making Paris your new home?" 

" What do you care? And what is it with you and home anyway? Why does it matter so much?" Thorin snipes, not sure why he's so annoyed all of a sudden. William's shoulders rise to his ears and his mouth opens indignantly.

" Because it's important. It's something that most normal people have. It's- oh what does it matter, you won't understand anyways!" He says, climbing over Thorin's legs as Balin comes into the compartment. "Thank goodness it's you, remove him from my sight!"

" What have you done?" 

" What have I done? He's the one who's being impossible!" Thorin growls.

" Bah!" William cries storming out the door. 

" Ah, I see now. An unspoken attraction?" Balin says, nudging Thorin with his elbow.

" Attraction? To him? When hell freezes over!" Thorin snaps, storming out of the compartment in the opposite direction. Balin sighs and shakes his head.

\---

" The travel papers were blue last month, and now they are red!" A man complains to his wife. Balin looks down at his own painstakingly written blue travel papers in alarm. 

" Thorin!" He hisses, rushing into their compartment. " The papers are red, not blue! I suggest we move to the baggage car!"

" I suggest we get off this train." Thorin grumbles, picking up bags and coats and nudging a napping William, who punches him as he wakes up. " Ow!"

" Oh, sorry, I thought you were- oh, nevermind it's just you." 

" Come on, we have to go!"

" And where are we going?"

" Ugh, I think you broke my nose."

" You are such a baby." They arrive at the baggage car quickly and William raises an eyebrow. " The baggage car? There wouldn't happen to be anything wrong with our papers, would there?" 

" No, of course not. We just didn't want you to have to mingle with all of those commoners."

" I'm mingling with you aren't I? Oh, well. Might as well get comfortable." Just as William sits on a crate, the train car jerks before speeding forward, as if lightened. Balin opens the door and peers through it, seeing the rest of the train at a standstill behind them. 

" There goes the dining car!" He calls back morosely.

" I'll go see what's going on!" Thorin yells over the noise of the train engine. William nods from the floor as Thorin slips out of the front door. The engine room is boiling and full of hot steam, the pressure deadly, and there is no one driving the train. 

Of course, the orcs were the ones who separated the baggage car and engine from the train, got rid of the driver and conductor, and overheated the engine room, but Thorin couldn't have known that. So he rushes back and tells William and Balin about the lack of train drivers. " Shouldn't we seperate from the engine?" Willam says. Thorin glares at him, but cannot help but admit that he has a point. he slips back outside and tries to pry the peg out of the train links but finds them fused together. 

" I need a wrench or a hammer, anything!" Balin finds a hammer and slips it into Thorin's hand. " Thanks!" Thorin tries to break the metal fusing the two trains together, but finds himself unable, and the hammer breaks. Bofur sniffs around the train car until he finds a box of dynamite and gets William's attention. " Good job Bofur!" William takes a stick and lights it, then rushes to the door. " Will this help?" Thorin stares at him incredulously. 

" Yeah, that'll do it!" He sticks the dynamite into the metal, grabs William and pulls him and Balin to the other end of the train car. The dynamite goes off and the engine  speeds  off, as their car slows slightly. " Now we just have to wait until we coast to a stop, we'll be fine, there's plenty of track left!" The orcs hear this and join together to form one giant scarred orc, snapping the bridge in half. William sees the broken bridge and turns to Thorin." Now what?" Thorin looks around for something to slow the car down and slights upon a grappling hook and long chain. He swings the hook out, making sure it sticks under the track, then has Balin help him push the chain off of the car. It seems to take for a moment and the three smile at each other in relief when the track itself rips up and the momentum pulls the chain from the baggage car wall. 

" Well that didn't work!" William says, grabbing a shivering Bofur and tucking him into his tunic. 

" We'll have to jump!" They grab what they can if their belongings and stand at the back of the train car. 

" Well, looks like this is our stop!" William yells, and they all hop out of the train and into the snow, watching as the baggage car joins the engine in the ravine. Bofur barks in a way that sounds vaguely relieved. " I quite agree Bofur, that could have been worse!" Thorin and Balin just look at Bilbo in a mixture of astonishment and annoyance before slumping back down into the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit or Anastasia, this work is entirely not for profit.


	3. Follow In My Footsteps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the journey to Paris and a meeting with Dori, first cousin to the Emperor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Learn to do it" was the hardest song to adapt so far, I hope I did it justice, enjoy! Also, Dori and Nori are meant to have feminine pronouns because they are women. Ori is their little brother.

Saruman watches William and his friends survive the train wreck with growing rage. He smashes through the smoke window and starts breathing heavily.

" Whoa there sir, you have to watch your blood pressure. One day my cousin just keeled over mid-mango. Stress, it's a killer sir!" Saruman slams his hand on the table, his thumb popping off. Wormtongue frowns, but re-attaches it, screwing it back on like the lid on a jar. 

" How could they let him escape!?" 

" Yes I know sir, very upsetting. I guess this orb thingy is broken. Oh well." Wormtongue tries to roll it off the stone table and Saruman gasps, diving to catch it. He growls heavily at Wormtongue.

" I sold my soul for this!" My life, my very existence depends on it. And _you_ almost destroyed it!" He grabs Wormtongue in a bone-cracking grip.

" All right, I get it, I get it!"

" See that you remember it you miserable rodent!" He throws the bat over his shoukder and runs an admiring hand over the Palantir.

" Oh sure, blame the bat, we're easy targets." Wormtongue mumbles.

" What are you muttering about?" 

" Just about how I'd like to give Bilbo what for myself, sir!"

" Oh I have some else in mind for him. Something more inticing, something really cruel." Saruman says, dragging his fingernail in a shriek down the Palantir. 

                         .~~~~~~~.

" Are we going to walk to Paris?" William asks, staring at a map. 

" No, we'll take a boat, in Germany," Thorin replies.

" So, we're walking to Germany?"

" No, Your Grace, we're taking a bus."

" Oh! A bus, that's nice." William says, the satisfaction of one who has walked too long in his voice. Balin is in a joyous mood, skipping down the path with a flower crown William made upon his head. 

" Dori my dear, Balin's on his way!"

" Who's Dori?" 

" Who is Dori? She's a tender little morsel, a cup of hot chocolate after a long walk in snow!"

"Balin!" Thorin hisses grabbing his arm.

" She's a decadent pastry filled with whipped cream and laughter!"

" Is this a woman or a cream puff?"

" She is the most ravishing first cousin of the Emperor!" 

" But, I thought we were going to see the Emperor himself? Why are we going to see his cousin? Thorin?" William crosses his arms and glares at Thorin, whom he's found to be at the source of most mistruths. 

" Well, nobody gets near the Emperor without speaking to Dori first." Thorin tries to lay a hand on William's shoulder, but is shrugged off.

" Oh no, not me. No, nobody ever told me I'd have to prove I was the Grand Duke!" 

" Look I-"

" Show up, yes. Look nice, fine! But lie?"

" You don't know it's a lie! What if it's true?" William scoffs and turns away. Thorin grabs his arm and spins him back around. " Okay, so there's one more stop on the way to finding out who you are. I just thought that this was something you had to see through to the very end." Thorin glares at Balin, who is being completely useless, dancing around to thoughts of his love with the little brown dog. 

" But look at me Thorin! I'm not exactly Grand Duke material here!" William cries, pulling at his fraying tunic. Thorin grunts at him and William scoffs again, storming off to a bridge over a babbling river. Balin follows him and gives him a flower.

"Tell me child, what do you see?" He asks, gesturing to their reflections in the lake.

" A skinny little nobody with no past and no future." William throws the flower in the lake and slumps down onto his arms against the railing. 

" Well I see an engaging and fiery young man, who, on a number of occasions has shown a Regal command equal to that of any Royal in the world! And I have known my share of Royalty. You see my dear, I was a member of the Imperial Court." William smiles at Balin and pats his hand as Thorin comes to stand beside him.

" So, are you ready to be the Grand Duke Bilbo?" William groans and goes to the other side of the bridge and Balin glares at Thorin.

" What?"

" There is nothing left for you back there My dear, everything is in Paris."

" Except for Frodo." William whispers, but secretly thinks that going to Paris will help Frodo as well. " Hmm... Gentleman? Start your teaching."

" I remember it well," Balin says, placing an arm on William's shoulders, and then he begins to sing:

" You were born in a palace by the sea."

" A palace by the sea? Could it be?" William sings.

" Yes that's right! You rode horseback, when you were only three."

" Horseback riding? Me?"

" And the horse-" Balin starts.

" He was white!" Thorin finishes.

" You made faces, and terrorized the cook!"

" Threw him in the brook!" Thorin adds.

" Was I wild?" William asks excitedly.

" Wrote the book!" Thorin replies.

" But you'd behave when your father gave that look." Balin sings, demonstrating said scowl.

" Imagine how it was-" Thorin begins.

" - your long forgotten past." Balin finishes.

" We've lots and lots to teach you and the time is going fast." Balin and Thorin sing together. They approach a fallen log over a stream, and start to cross it. 

" All right, I'm ready!" William exclaims. Balin adjusts his posture and places a stick on his head. 

" Now shoulders back and stand up tall-"

"- and do not walk but try to float." Thorin adds; rather unhelpfully if the look William gives him is any indication.

" I feel a little foolish. Am I floating?" William asks, his eyebrow raised, arms out and trying to keep his balance.

" Like a little boat!" Balin sings encouragingly. 

" You give a bow!" Thorin sings, demonstrating a proper bow, an arm bent at the elbow placed across his waist, the other held firmly to the side as he bows at the waist. William copies him hesitantly, but in a way that is near perfect.

"What happens now?" William asks.

" Your hand receives a kiss." Thorin places his lips to the third finger of William's right hand, where a ring would be if he was at a Royal gathering. Thorin straightens as he and Balin sing again.

" But most of all remember this!"

" If I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it!" Balin says, throwing his arms out to William.

" Something in you knows it-". Thorin says, hesitantly placing a hand on William's arm. 

"- there's nothing to it!" They sing together.

" Follow in my footsteps, shoe by shoe-" Balin says and William takes it literally, following Balin like a little duckling.

" You can learn to do it too!" Balin and Thorin chorus, hailing a carriage into the next town.

" Now elbows in and sit up straight-" Balin says, adjusting William as they bump around in a carriage, soup made with Chinook in William's hands.

"- And never slurp the Chinook!" Thorin adds with a slight smirk after William does just that.

" I never cared for chinook!" William sings in a pretentious voice, pushing the bowl towards Balin. 

" He said that just like a Took!" Balin exclaims laughingly.

" The Samovar-"

"- The Caviar-"

" - Dessert and then goodnight?" William asks, shrugging his shoulders.

" Not until you get this right!" Balin and Thorin sing as they continue on down the road. 

" If I can learn to do it." Balin sings and Thorin parrots after.

" If he can learn to do it!"

" You can learn to do it." Balin sings once more, Thorin again repeating the line.

" You can learn to do it!"

"Pull yourself together!" Balin sings, and Thorin joins him for the next line.

" And you'll pull through it."

" Tell yourself it's easy-" 

" And it's true! You can learn to do it to!" Thorin and Balin sing as Balin takes a book out of his bag.

" Next we memorize the names of the Royalty. Now, here we have Kropotkin-" Balin says, pointing to a picture in the old book.

"- shot Potemkin-" Thorin adds.

" In the Botkin." Balin finishes.

" Oh!" William exclaims.

" And dear old Uncle Isengrim, loved his hold 'em." Balin says with a disapproving scowl.

" Got it William?" Thorin asks

" No!" William groans.

" The Baron Pushkin!" Balin exclaims.

" He was...?" William asks, trying to remember.

" Short!" Thorin answers.

" Count Anatoly!"

" Had a...?" William questions, biting his lower lip.

" Wart!"  Thorin says with a laugh.

" Count Sergei!"

" Wore a feathered hat!" Thorin explains.

" I hear he's gotten very fat." Balin comments under his breath. 

" And I recall his yellow cat!" William exclaims, his finger in the air.

" I don't believe we told him that," Balin whispers to Thorin. In the next town they rent bicycles, teaching William to ride like Royalty.

" If you can learn to do it, I can learn to do it." William sings, slouching over the handlebars, the bicycle wobbling slightly.

" Dont know how you knew it-" Balin sing, lifting Williams chin.

"- I simply knew it! Suddenly I feel like, someone new!" William straightens in the seat with new-found confidence.

" William you're a dream come true!" Balin and Thorin sing, grinning at each other behind William's back.

" If I can learn to do it." Balin sings, raising his arms in the air before quickly grabbing the handlebars again.

" If I can learn to do it!" William parrots.

" You can learn to do it." Balin says, his smile for Willam fond and encouraging.

" You can learn to do it!" 

" Pull yourself together-" Thorin adds.

"- And you'll pull though it!" William and Balin harmonize together.

" Tell yourself it's easy-" Balin sings.

"- And it's true-" all three sing at once, hopping off of their bicycles as they approach the docks.

"- You can learn to do it," Balin and Thorin harmonize.

" Nothing to it!" William exclaims.

" You can learn to do it, too...!" They finish as they arrive at the boat and wander up the gangplank into the ship.

                                .~~~~~~~.

 " I bought you a tunic!" Thorin says, rubbing the back of his neck and shoving a length of fabric at William. William raises an unimpressed eyebrow and then the other as he takes in the size and length of the tunic. 

" No, I'm quite sure you've gotten me a tent. In fact I think if you looked hard enough you would find the entire Russian Circus in there!" William says, a hand coming up to cover a giggle. Thorin growls and his signature scowl forms on his eyebrows.

" Just put it on!" He grumbles, dumping the tunic into William's arms and storming away. William sighs and steps into his room, taking out his sewing kit and seeing what he can do about the tent Thorin had bought him.

\---

Thorin and Balin were playing chess when William made an appearance and the sight of him had Balin gasping and staring open-mouthed. Thorin turned to see what the fuss was about and his mouth went dry. William had taken the tunic in, shortening the length so that it rested comfortably mid-thigh. He also wrapped his own belt around his waist so the tunic was more fitted to his slight frame. Apparently the size of the tunic had hidden a pair of trousers as well, and these are a darker blue and well suited to William's rounder hips and thighs. His golden curls, usually hidden by the paperboy cap, are tied back into a short ponytail with a blue bow, most likely taken from the extra fabric of the tunic. " My dear, you look marvelous! You are dressed for a ball and now you must learn to dance for one to, come come!" Balin exclaims, pulling William towards Thorin. Thorin sputters something about not being very good at dancing but somehow ends up with a hand at William's waist, the other linked tightly with William's own hand.  Balin starts up a waltz on a gramophone and Thorin pushes William into a basic box step. " No, no, no! Let him try to lead, we're teaching him to dance, not you!" Balin admonishes and Thorin aquiesces with a grunt and a nod. 

" So, uh, that tunic is really nice." Thorin says, as close to sheepish as William has ever seen him.

"Really?"

" Yes, I mean it looked nice when I bought it, but it looks even better on you! You should wear it!"

" I am wearing it?" William says with a small grin. 

" Oh right, of course, of course. I'm just trying to pay you a..."

" A compliment?"

"Yes, exactly!" William's smile grows at the admission and he spins Thorin out, then brings him back in. 

Balin watches with a smile full of both fondness and sadness. " It's one, two, three, and suddenly I see it at a glance. He's radiant and confident, and born to take this chance. I taught him well, I planned it all, I just forgot romance. Balin how could you do this? How will we get through this? I never should have let them dance." William and Thorin are dancing fully now and William has sunk back into letting Thorin lead, the both of them smiling with pink flushes on their cheeks.

" I'm feeling a little dizzy," William says, his voice hushed.

" A little light-headed?"

"Yes."

"Me too. Probably from all the spinning. Maybe we should stop." Thorin says as they come to a slow halt.

" We have stopped," William points out, his green eyes meeting Thorin's clear blue ones.

" William, I..."

" Yes?" William replies and leans in towards Thorin, his eyelids fluttering as their lips near each other- and then Bofur barks and Thorin pulls away.

" You're doing fine." He pats William's hand and walks away stiffly. William stares after him forlornly, then picks Bofur up and heads below deck to change for bed. 

                             .~~~~~~~.

The floor of the cabin is lumpy and cold under William's thin gray pajama pants as he sits on the floor and brushes his curls methodically. Balin shifts and groans and William looks up at him in concern. " Are you alright Mr. Balin?"

"Fine, fine. Just riddled with envy. Look at him! He could sleep through anything!" Including the rocking of the boat in the rainstorm currently gripping the ocean apparently. Bofur tries to snuggle Thorin in his sleep and winds up being smacked back over to William, a round, ornate little box in tow. He nudges the box over to William who picks it up and admires it. " Pretty little jewellery box, isn't it?"

" Jewellery box? Are you sure thats what it is?" William asks, a tune playing in his mind filling his thoughts with dancing figures.

"What else could it be?"

" I don't know. Something special, something... Secret." He's disrupted from his reverie by Bofur licking his toes and giggles. " Is that possible?"

" Anything's possible! You taught Thorin how to waltz, didn't you?" William laughs in agreement as Balin gets into bed and turns off the light. William picks up Bofur and lays down in the lower bunk, cuddling into Bofur's soft fur. "Sweet dreams Bofur," William whispers into floppy ears. " Goodnight Balin!"

" Goodnight Your Majesty." 

\--- 

" There he is Master, sound asleep in his little bed," Wormtongue says, gazing into Saruman's smoke window. 

" Yes," Saruman says, grinning wickedly. "Sweet dreams little Prince, I'll come for you in your mind where you can't escape me."

\---

 Orcs filter into the cabin through the crack under the door. They fly around Thorin, and into William's boots before hovering over the bed. As they circle William's head they turn into butterflies and enter his dreams.

\---

In the dream William stands in a meadow of flowers, with butterflies dancing around him. A little boy runs up to him, taking his hand and urging him to follow. And so William follows him through meadow, forest path and pebbled ground, his white and blue sailor's shirt blowing in the breeze and his knee-length trousers allowing him ease of movement. He follows the boy over a fallen log and up a slope to a cliff.

\--- 

In the waking world, William has been following the orcs out of the cabin and onto the deck of the boat. The storm rages on, sheets of rain soaking William's pajamas and darkening his curls. He crosses the deck and ends up at the railing.

Meanwhile Bofur has been trying to force Thorin to wake, having been woken himself by the lack of William's body heat, and starts to bark loudly.

\---

The cliff hangs over a small lake, which is currently occupied by a swimming family and the boy jumps into the water to join them. As William approaches the edge of the cliff, grabbing a tree branch for balance, he sees a familiar woman staring up at him.

" Hello Sunshine!" She calls. " Jump in! Jump!"

\---

Thorin is finally awoken by a nip to the ear.

" Ouch! What is it Bofur?" Bofur points to William's bed with his nose and Thorin is up in an instant screaming William's name. He runs up the stairs and onto the deck and finds William atop the railing and clutching the rigging as if prepared to jump. 

\---

Just as William is about to jump, the scene changes and the woman turns into a hideous monster. The world around him turns desolate and the monster screeches at him. " Yes, jump! The Took curse!" Arms grab him from behind and William struggles as best as he is able, screaming.

\---

Thorin grabs William around the waist with both arms, pulling him off of the railing despite his struggling.

" William! William, wake up!" After a few shakes of his shoulders William startles awake, breathing heavily. 

" The Took curse!"

" The Took curse? What are you talking about?"

" The Took curse... I keep seeing faces, so many faces," William whimpers, tears mingling with the rain on his face as he buries his head in Thorin's chest. 

" It's alright, it was just a nightmare. You're safe now." Thorin says, wrapping an arm around William and stroking his hair, much the same as what he does when one of his nephews wakes with a bad dream.

                             .~~~~~~~.

"Nooooooo!" Saruman shrieks, pulling at his rotting flesh and stringy hair.

" Easy Master, Easy! Wow!" Wormtongue says, alarmed. " Now is not the time to lose your head, Sir."

" You're right Wormtongue," Saruman says, taking deep breaths. "I am calm. I am boneless. I have no feelings whatsoever." Saruman relaxes until his head slips inside of his body and Wormtongue looks at him in disgust before peering into the hole where his Master's head used to be. 

"Sir?"

" I feel a strange sort of clarity, Wormtongue. I'll have to kill him myself, in person."

" What, you mean physically?"

"Yes. You know what they say; if you want the job done right you have to do it yourself."Saruman says, his headless body thumping into a stone column. Eventually Saruman pulls his head out of his body and sets himself to rights. "I have so many fond memories of Paris. And killing the last of the Tooks will be so delicious!" Saruman crackles as he throttles one of the insect creatures that live in limbo with him. "Well, time to go!" He sings, wrapping a fur-lined cloak over his shoulders and spraying himself with cologne to hide his rotten musk. 

" But you're dead! You're falling apart Sir! How do you expect to get to Paris in one piece?" 

" Why don't we take the train?" Saruman cackkes again and the Palantir emits a glow before shooting Saruman and Wormtongue up through the layers of dirt above Saruman's limbo.

                             .~~~~~~~.

In a quaint Parisian home in one of the quieter corners of the busy city, another young man attempts to prove that he is the young Prince. "Ah, yes. I remember so well. Uncle Lashi was from Moscow, and Uncle Boris was from Odessa. And every Spring-"

" We would take picnics by the Shore on Sunday. Don't you have anything better to do?" Emperor Gandalf says, standing to look out the window, leaning heavily on a jeweled cane, shooing the boy out. When he leaves Dori collects the tea, setting it on the table." No more," Gandalf whispers to himself.

" Oh dear, and I was sure that one was real. Well, he was real, he is a person, but- oh well! Next time I'll have to think of even harder questions."

"No!" Gandalf says loudly, startling Dori into dropping a teacup. " My heart cannot take it anymore! I will see no more boys claiming they are Bilbo." Gandalf approaches the table slowly and takes a framed picture of his grandson and lays it face-down on the table.

                            .~~~~~~~~.

" Where was your Uncle Boris from? Thorin asks from across the carriage that Balin is driving.

" What if Dori doesn't recognize me?" 

" Of course she'll recognize you, you're Bilbo!"

" It's just that-"

"It's just what?"

" Three days ago I was a nobody without a past and now I have to remember an entire lifetime!"

" Well that's why you have me! Now, where is your Uncle Boris from?"

" Moscow?"

\---

The door Balin knocks on belongs to a gorgeous little house with a well-manicured lawn and adorable rose-filled flower boxes. The door opens to reveal a thin ginger-haired woman in a scandalously short black maid's dress, one hand against her hip and the other holding a feather duster, a seductive smirk playing on her red-painted lips. " What can I do for you gentlemen?" Balin is about to answer when a silver-haired beauty pops up behind the ginger one and starts to shoo her away.

" Get out of the way Nori! Why not go make yourself useful and actually clean something for once!" The ginger scowls before slinking away, hips swishing ridiculously and William barely suppresses a snicker. 

"Dori!" Balin cries. " Zdravstvuyte, Angel moy, RAdost' moyA!"

" Balin, Lyublmaya moyA! Lyubov' moyA, pridl ka mnE. This is a surprise!" Dori exclaims, pulling Balin into a hug and planting a kiss on his now-rosy cheeks. Thorin exchanges an amused glance with William, shrugging. " But where are my manners, come in, come in!" Dori ushers them all inside and shuts the door, unfortunately locking Bofur out. Bofur decides to make himself at home in one of the planter boxes in retaliation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Russian translations:  
> Balin says," Hello, my Angel, my joy."  
> And Dori says: " Balin, my sweetheart! Come here, my love."  
> Also, oh my god, Nori!


	4. Paris Holds the Key to His Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Paris William discovers everything he's dreamed of, and something more.

"May I present his Royal Highness, the Grand Duke Bilbo Took!", Balin announces, and William gives a practiced bow and takes Dori's hand for a kiss, which earns him a fond smile and a slight blush. 

"Oh my heavens! He certainly does look like Bilbo, but so did many of the others! Where were you born?" Dori asks, circling around William like a pretty vulture. 

" At the Peterhoff Palace." William responds, fidgeting slightly under Dori's sharp gaze. Dori gestures for William to sit and he does, back straight and hands folded in his lap. 

"Correct."

" And how does Bilbo like his tea?"

" I don't like tea, just hot water with lemon."

"Hmm... Good."

The afternoon continues on in this way, with Thorin pacing in front of the fireplace and Bofur pacing in the planter box. William answers all of Dori's questions with surety and a confidence befitting a Royal. The only quirk in his formal posture is the glitter of amusement in his eyes whenever Nori flutters into the room to "clean" in increasingly ridiculous and suggestive poses until Dori has enough and beats her out of the room with her own feather duster. Balin appears to be taking Dori's questioning quite calmly, sitting in a large armchair and enjoying tea and scones with clotted cream. After what feels like an eon, Dori asks one last question.

" Finally, and this may seem like an impertinent question, but indulge me. How did you escape the Siege on the Palace?" William's eyes flutter shut momentarily and his brow furrows. Balin and Thorin almost groan as they did not prepare William for this question. 

" There was a boy with blue eyes. A boy who worked in the Palace. He opened a wall... I'm sorry, that's crazy isn't it? Walls opening." Thorin looks up, startled, mouth agape, and he realizes that the Grand Duke does inside sit in front of him.

" So is he a Took or what?" Thorin asks, his voice a bit strangled, but the others put it down to impatience. 

" Well, he answered all of the questions," Dori replies, lifting her delicate shoulders.

" You hear that child? You did it!" Balin exclaims, spinning William around in a dance, the both of them laughing happily.

" So when do we get to see the Emperor?" Thorin asks.

" I'm afraid you don't."

" Come again My Pet?" William's face falls like a weak card castle in a breeze. Dori sighs and takes a sip of his tea. 

" The Emperor simply won't allow it."

" Now Dori, My Bright Diamond, surely you can think of some way to arrange a meeting with the Emperor. I refuse to budge until an answer occurs to you."

" Please," William says, he eyes bright with unshed tears and his pink lips locked in a slight pout, creating one of the most heartbreaking expressions Dori had ever seen. And Dori positively melted, pulling William into a tight embrace and kissing the top of his curls. 

" Do you enjoy the Russian Ballet? I hear they are are performing in Paris tonight. The Emperor and I love the Ballet, we never miss it," Dori says with a wink. She leaves the room with William following after her, carrying the tea tray, the two discussing the Ballet amongst other things. Balin and thorin slip outside into the garden and as soon as the door closes Balin shouts for joy.

" We did it!" He begins to dance around, spotting Bofur and picking the dog up to dance with him as well, resulting in many happy licks to the face. " We're going to see the Imperial Highness tonight! We're going to get the 10 million rubles! We're going to be-"

" Balin! He is the Prince!"

" William was extraordinary! I almost believed him! And Dori-"

" Mr. Balin? Mr. Thorin? Dori wanted me to tell you that she would like to take Mr. William shopping for the Ballet. And that she's sorry about Nori, she's really just a harmless flirt, she's not bad at all!" A young ginger-haired boy with a bowl cut says, pulling on his knitted sweater.

"And what is your name my lad?" Balin asks.

" Ori."

" I see. And how old are you?" 

" Ten! Dori and Nori are taking care of me cuz Mama went away somewhere. But we should get going, Dori does not appreciate tardiness," the boy replies, going back inside. 

                              .~~~~~~~.

William was positively giddy as they strolled down the cobblestone streets of Paris. Nori had changed into a more respectable blue dress and white coat and was holding Ori's hand tightly in her own, making sure he didnt wander off. Their first stop is Chanel, where William purchases a shimmery purple waistcoat and cream button-up shirt with black pants, a flower braided into the hair behind his ear. They run across a man selling flowers in front of a streetlamp and Dori buys three flowers, placing one in Ori's hand and one on Balin's lapel and leaving William to place the third on the lapel of Thorin's worn coat. 

" Welcome my friends to Paris! Here, have a flower on me. Forget where you're from, you're in France- children,come. I'll show you that French joie de vivre!" Dori begins to sing, exchanging a look with an accordion player. She links arms with Balin and William starts to walk away, leaving William to frantically grab at a distracted Thorin and Nori to grab onto Balin quick as she can. " Paris holds the key to your heart. And all of Paris plays a part!"

"Bonjour!" A couple calls from the other side of the street. William waves as best he can with his arms tangled up, but it's an overall failure. 

" You stroll two-by-two!"

" Down what we call La Rue!" Nori adds.

" And soon all of Paris will be singing to you!" And sure enough they do, everyone on the streets chorusing together as they dance in the streets.

" Oh-la-la, oh-la-la. Oh-la-laa!"

"Paris holds the key to L'amour." The accordian man sings.

" And not even Freud knows the cure," sings another man, watching an attractive woman with poodles walk by, fanning himself.

" There's love in the air-" sings a man watching an airplane show from atop a lampost.

"At the Folies Bergere!" A woman walking what appears to be a leopard down the street in a ridiculously coulourful outfit.

" The French have it down to an art." A painter sings, spinning his canvas around to show William a painting of the Eiffel tower under a full moon. 

" Paris holds the key to your heart!" Dori And Nori chorus together, little Ori giggling happily, flower still clenched tight in his hand.

"Oh-la-la!" Rings through the streets once more as they approach the Moulin Rouge, which is only in the early stages of the night, and therefore only the Can-can dancers are performing, and nothing more.

" When your feeling blue, come to Le Moulin." Dori sings, taking the hat off of a man dressed like a sailor and pushing him away."When your heart says don't-"

"The French say do!" Nori says, winking at the man and turning with a swish of her skirts and bump of her hip.  

" When you think you can't, you'll find you can-can!" The Can-can dancers chorus from backstage.

"Everyone can can-can, you can can-can too!" Dori sings, kicking a foot in the air and losing her shoe to the stage. Balin rushes to retrieve it and gets caught up in swinging skirts and fast music, William and Thorin laughing at him. However, he eventually retrieves his prize and slips the shoe back onto Dori's foot like a gentleman. Thorin looks morosely at William through a wine glass as Nori takes him by the arm to dance. 

" Paris holds the key to his past. Yes Prince Bilbo I've found you at last. No more pretend. You'll be gone, that's the end." He sings, sighing, to himself.

Dori takes them from the Moulin Rouge and up the Arc de Triomphe to a roaring party, taking William into a store along the way. William comes out laden with bags and in a completely different outfit then before. His waistcoat is now turquoise over a light blue shirt with cream trousers, although the flower remains in his curls, which have been let loose for once. 

"Paris holds the key to your heart!" The partygoers chorus.

"You'll be tres jolie and so smart!" Nori sings, plucking at William's waistcoat to straighten it. 

" Come dance through the night-" A man sings, pulling William up to dance with him.

"And forget all your woes!" A woman sings, taking her turn to dance with William.

"The City of Light-" Dancers chorus while they execute increasingly complex maneuvers.

"Where a rose is a rose!" Little Ori sings, smiling with his flower held in front of him.

"And no one ever knows what will start!" Dori sings from where she dances with Balin.

"Paris holds the key-" Everyone harmonize together.

"-to his-" Thorin adds quietly.

"Heart! Oh-la-la, Oh-la-la!" The Partygoers finish, fireworks lighting the sky of Paris magnificently.

                               .~~~~~~~.

 "We have nothing to worry about, he is the Prince," Thorin says, watching Balin pace. He fidgets, feeling strange in a suit with coattails of all things, and a top hat.

" I know, I know..."

" "No, you don't know! I was the boy, the one who opened the door in the wall! He's the real thing Balin."

" Then our William has found his family after all. And we have found the heir to the Russian throne. And you..."

" Will walk out of his life forever."

" But-"

" Princes don't marry kitchen boys Balin."

" I know but-"

"We're going to do through with this as if nothing has changed."

" You've got to tell him!"

"Tell me what?" William asks, stepping up to them in a heavy fur-lined overcoat that covers the suit he wears underneath. His golden curls shine in the light of the streetlamps, highlighting the glittering diamond band pulling his curls into a ponytail. 

" How wonderful you look," Thorin answers smoothly, earning him a brilliant smile.

" Well, thank you. You like quite nice yourself." William walks ahead into the Theatre as Balin and Thorin exchange heated looks at each other behind him. When they reach the inner stairs William's coat has been taken by one of the boys by the door and he looks stunning. The light reflects off of the subtle shimmering in his dark blue suit jacket and trousers. His waistcoat is a beautiful cream with silver embroidery and as Thorin gets closer acorn-shaped cufflinks guide his eyes to elegant white-gloved hands. Thorin coughs to hide his reaction and offers an arm to William, who gladly takes it and lets Thorin guide him to their seats. He uses rose-tinted Galilean Binoculars to observe the Emperor's private box. "Please let him remember me..." William whispers to himself.

William tries to pay attention to the Ballet, he really does. But the anxiety of possibly finding his family gets to him and he finds himself bouncing a leg up and down and twisting his programme in his hands. When he moves on to shredding it into little pieces Thorin takes the programme and the shavings and puts them aside, taking William's hand in his and lacing their fingers together, resting them on William's knee. "Everything is going to be fine." This earns him a sheepish smile and William's head on his shoulder for the rest of the evening.

\---

When the show ends they head to the Emperor's private box where Dori is waiting for them. 

"Relax, you're going to be great. Just wait here, I'll go in and announce you properly."

" Thorin, wait," William says, grabbing his arm.

"What is it?"

"We've been through a lot together, and I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me, I guess." He starts to walk away, probably to go pace, but Thorin stops him.

" William, I-"

"Yes?"

"I'm- I-"

"Go on."

"I- your welcome, I guess. And good luck."

" Thank you."

" Well, here it goes," Thorin mumbles as he enters the private box. "Please inform His Majesty, the Emperor, that I had found his grandson, the Grand Duke Bilbo. He's waiting just outside"

" I'm very sorry young man, but the Emperor, he will see no one," Dori says in the coat room that is seperated from the main box by a heavy velvet curtain. 

" Tell that impertinent young man that I have seen enough Grand Duke Bilbos to last me a lifetime," the Emperor calls through the curtain, his voice tired and worn.

" Oh, you had better go now. Come, come, to the door." Dori says trying to shoo Thorin out the door. 

"Please, let me just-"

"If you'll excuse me, I would like to live out the remainder of my lonely life in peace!" The Emperor says.

" I'll see you to the door!" Dori says, but Thorin takes advantage of her distraction ad slips through the curtain. 

"Your Majesty, I intend you no harm. My name is Thorin, I worked at the Palace."

"Now that's one I've never heard before, I must say." The Emperor says, standing up to leave. 

"No! Please don't go, just let me explain!"

" I know exactly what you're doing. I've seen men take young boys and train them in Royal ways."

" Please Your Majesty, if you'll just listen..."

"Haven't you been listening? I don't care how much you've fashioned him to look like Bilbo and act like Bilbo. In the end it never is Bilbo!"

" But this time it is him!"

" Thorin, I've heard of you. You're that con-man from St. Petersburg who was holding auditions for a Bilbo look-a-like!"

"You don't understand, I was only trying to get money for my nephews but it's different now!"

"How much pain would you inflict on an old man? Enough! Remove him from my sight!" Two large men grab Thorin and forcibly remove him from the Emperor's box. 

" But he is Bilbo! If you just talk to him you'll see!" Thorin slumps against the floor in front of the door.

"So it was all a lie then?" William says, his voice hushed and full of pain.

" No, no it wasn't!"

"I was just a part of your con to get his money?"

"That's what it was at first, but it's different now!"

"I understand that you want to give your nephews a better life. But you took advantage of my memory loss and pain and I can't forgive that. You made me believe I could have family again, but it was all a lie!"

"Its different now, because you are Bilbo! You are!"

"Stop it! From the very beginning you lied. And I not only believed you, I actually... Ugh!" William screams, throwing his arms up in the air and walking away.

"William, please. When you spoke about the wall opening and the boy-" Thorin says as he tries to stop William from walking away from him.

"No! I don't want to talk about anything I said or remembered, just leave me alone!" Thorin grabs William by the arm and tries to hold him still and William pulls back his arm and slaps him across the face. Thorin lets go in his shock and William runs through the crowd as fast as he can.

" William, wait you have to know the truth!" But it's too late, William has already fled the Theatre, running away in tears. 

                             .~~~~~~~.

 Thorin approaches the Emperor's car slowly, allowing the driver to escort him into it before bumping the driver out of the way and getting into the driver's seat, punching on the gas and speeding away.

" Illya stop this at once! Slow down!"

"I'm not Illya. And you will listen to me."

"You! Stop this car at once! How dare you!"

" You have to talk to him. Please." Thorin says as he stops the car in front of Dori's house, where they are currently staying. 

" I won't allow you to badger me a moment longer." Thorin sighs and takes the jewellery box out of his pocket. 

"Do you recognize this?"

"Where did you get this?" The Emperor says in a whisper, holding the jewellery box reverently. 

" I know you've been hurt, but it's possible that he's been just as lost and alone as you."

 " You really will stop at nothing will you?"

"I think I'm just as stubborn as you are Your Highness."

\---

William is packing his bag when he hears the knock at the door and sighs, wiping tears from his red eyes.

" Go away Thorin, I have nothing to say to you!" William turns to the door to see a finely dressed old man leaning on a jeweled cane. " Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you were-"

"I know very well who you thought I was. Who exactly are you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." William says with a breathy humourless chuckle. 

" My dear, I am old. And I am tired of being conned and tricked."

" It was never my intention to trick you."

"And I suppose the money doesn't interest you either?"

"Money cannot give me my life back."

"You are a very good actor. The best yet, in fact. But I've had enough." The Emperor stands and starts to light a pipe as he leaves.

"Old Toby?"

"Yes, it's the only brand I can stand."

" Yes, and I spilled a pouch on the floor. The carpet was never the same after that, and forever smelled of Old Toby- like you. And I used to lie on that carpet for hours when you went away because I missed you so much. When you came here, to Paris." William plucks at his acorn pendant, playing with it even as his brow furrows with the effort to remember. 

"What is that?"

"This? I've had it since before I can remember." 

"Can I see it?" William nods and takes his necklace off over his head, gingerly placing it in the old man's palm. "It was our little secret, my Bilbo's and mine." The Emperor says, pulling out the jewellery box.

"The music box. To sing me to sleep when you were away!" William exclaims, eyes bright. 

" Hear this song and remember, soon you''ll be home with me. Once upon a December." They sing together and Gandalf allows himself a few happy tears.

"Bilbo! My Bilbo." He exclaims, pulling William into a tight hug- and both men feel at once as if they have found home once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, the reunion made me cry a little... I decided to add an epilogue chapter, hope you like it!


	5. Home is Where the Heart is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William has found his family, but is it enough? Will Saruman get his revenge? Will love be strong enough? Who knows!

The abandoned clock tower Saruman is currently using as his hideout is particularly dismal, seeming to be swamped in the green glow of the Palantir and exceedingly decrepit. The wood is rotting and black with mold and always appears damp- the fact that the clock still runs is a miracle for the ages. 

"Wormtongue, get me a comb! Find me some cologne, I want to look my best!"

"That might take a bit of work Sir."

"Then snap to it! We're going to a party."

"A party in Paris?"

"That's right." Saruman replies, tossing a newspaper with the announcement of Bilbo's rediscovery as the main headline. 

"I can teach you the latest dance step sir, it's starts with a...Woo!" Wormtongue flaps his wings out in an imitation of a spin. "And then you get really crazy with the hips, Sir. It's fun."

"We'll let the Grand Duke Bilbo have his moment."

"Who cares?" Wormtongue says, continuing to dance.

"And then we'll kill him!" Saruman yells, slamming his fist down on a little wooden table. 

" Right then we'll...kill him? Sir what happened to the party idea?"

"That's where we'll kill him." Saruman says with a gleeful giggle, tearing the newspaper to shreds. "Crush him at the height of his glory!" 

"And we're back with the crushing." Wormtongue says with a sigh. "Sir, I'm begging you, please. Forget the boy and get a life."

"I'll get a life, Wormtongue. His!"

                                  .~~~~~~~.

 William, or perhaps Bilbo as he now can be called, sits at his grandfather's feet, resting his head on his knee while they stare at the poorly drawn girl that Bilbo had drawn for his grandfather long ago. " I remember this, Fortinbras made me so mad, he said it looked like a pig riding a donkey!" Bilbo says, laughing, and then sobering. "It is hard to remember them, how much I loved them, only for them to be gone."

"They would not want us to live in the past, especially now that we have found each other," Gandalf says, running his hands through Bilbo's curls. Bilbo smiles up at his grandfather, the end of the pink pajama top he wears lifting with the movement. Gandalf guides Bilbo to the bedroom's long mirror, and stands him in front of it with a twinkle in his eye.

" In your smile, I once again see my Bella, your dear mother. But you are handsome like your father, Bungo, Emperor of all Russia." Here he ducks down to a box on the bedside table and lifts out a gorgeous crown made of diamonds patterned like oak leaves and acorns set in bronze, placing it on top of Bilbo's curls. In it Bilbo feels like the royalty he is- despite the pink pajamas and lack of footwear- and he stands a little taller under his grandfather's gaze.

                                  .~~~~~~.

"You sent for me, Your Grace?" Thorin says, entering the Emperor's study cautiously. 

 "10 million rubles, as promised. With my gratitude." The Emperor says, handing Thorin a box filled to the brim with money.

"I accept your gratitude, Your Highness, but I don't want the money." Thorin replies, placing the box back on the desk. 

" What do you want then?" Gandalf asks, a far too knowing glint in his eyes. 

"Unfortunately nothing you can give." Thorin bows and turns to leave, when the Emperor stops his with a hand on his arm.

"Young man, where did you get that music box?" He asks, circling Thorin. "You were the boy, weren't you? The servant boy who got us out. You saved his life, and mine, and you restored him to me. Yet you want no reward?" Thorin begins to look mildly uncomfortable and shakes his head.

" Not anymore."

"Why the change of mind?"

"It was more a change of heart. I must go." Thorin bows once more and leaves the room, not seeing the smile Gandalf gives to his retreating form.

\---

Thorin tries to take the stairs quickly, but is stopped when he sees Bilbo. His heart both clenches and rejoices at the sight of him. He is dressed for a ball, in a sunshine yellow suit jacket over cream coloured trousers and a sky blue waistcoat with a mauve ascot, his hair braided back against his skull in a way that isn't remotely feminine, and to top it off is the crown; its diamond acorns and oak leaves glowing in the light. Unfortunately Bilbo looks up and sees Thorin, his expression at once clouding over with a bit of hurt and annoyance. 

"Hello Thorin."

"Hello."

"Did you collect your reward?"

" My business is complete."

" Young man, you will bow and address the Prince as 'Your Highness' " a servant says from the bottom of the staircase.

"That isn't necessary-" Bilbo begins only for Thorin to hold a hand up and bow to him.

"Please... Your Highness. I'm glad you found what you were looking for."

"Yes, I'm glad you did too. I hope you get to take your nephews somewhere grand, let them have their adventures. And... Take care." Thorin looks almost pained at this, wishing he could tell Bilbo that he didn't take the money and that he loves him, but unable to tear him away from the life he hasn't even gotten to settle into yet.

" Well, Goodbye... Your Highness." Bilbo's reply is so soft Thorin barely hears it before Bilbo is running off up the stairs.

\--- 

Bofur stands in front of a mirror, a miniature crown weighing down his floppy ears, a red belt with a little wooden sword around his middle and one of Balin's medals pinned to a new silken collar. Bofur shakes the crown off of his head and leaps into Balin's arms.

"You look fabulous!" The man says, and Bofur licks his face happily before he is set down on a dresser. Balin is dressed in full court regalia, his many medals pinned to his chest. "Do you mind?" He asks Bofur, taking the medal pinned to his collar. "No, of course not. You are a wonderful dog." Suddenly there's a knock on the door and Thorin peers around the door before stepping in.

"Well, if you're ever in St. Petersburg look me up. I'll send Dwalin your way when I get back."

"Ah, my boy," Balin sighs pulling Thorin into a fatherly hug. "You're making a mistake."

"Trust me, this is the one thing I'm doing right." Thorin says as he pulls away. Bofur actually whimpers as Thorin pets him and licks his hand while giving him a ridiculously sad looking doggy pout. "So long mutt." Thorin slips out the door with a final wave.

                                  .~~~~~~.

Bilbo peers through the curtains behind the Dias, looking around the ball room at all of the people in brightly coloured gowns, so like the balls of his memory, but clearly lacking something.

"He's not there," Gandalf says from behind him.

"Well of course he's not- who's not here Grandpapa?"

" A remarkable young man who found a music box."

"He's probably headed off to get his nephews by now," Bilbo says, no trace of bitterness in his voice. Gandalf steps up beside his grandson, peering out of the curtain as well.

"Look at them dance. You were born into this world of glittering jewels and fine titles, but I wonder if it is what you really want."

"Of course, of course it is! I found what I was looking for. I found out who I am, where I belong. I found you."

" Yes, you did find me. And you will always have me. But is it enough?"

"Yes, of course. After I get Frodo everything will be perfect."

"My darling..." Gandalf sighs, stroking Bilbo's cheek with a thumb. "He didn't take the money."

"What? But he needed that money for his nephews! To give them a better life!" Bilbo begins to grumble unsavory things under his breath and Gandalf chuckles quietly, lifting Bilbo's chin with a wizened hand. 

"Knowing that you are alive, seeing the man that you have become, fills me with joy I never thought I could feel again. Whatever you choose, we will always have each other." Bilbo turns away for a moment biting his lip.

"Grandpapa, can't you just tell me what to-" only when Bilbo turns around his grandfather is gone, already slipped through the curtain. Bilbo sighs and starts to sink to the floor when he hears Bofur barking. "Bofur?" He runs out into the back hallway and finds Bofur barking at seemingly nothing and runs to get him but Bofur takes off again. "Bofur!" The little dog runs straight to the hedge maze in the back garden. "Bofur come back!" Bilbo calls as he enters the maze after the dog, unaware of the hedges closing up behind him. 

\---

Thorin waits in a line to get a train ticket, his hands buried in his pockets. He feels something soft and pulls out the flower Bilbo had tucked into his lapel, a fond but sad smile gracing his lips. The man in front of him gets his ticket and exits the line and the woman behind him nudges him in the back. 

"It's your turn." Thorin looks up briefly, his mind set.

\---

Bilbo is now thoroughly lost and confused and it seems like the maze is closing in around him, pushing him where it wants him to go. "Bofur, where are you boy?" Bilbo scurries down a green lit path and finds Bofur lying on some cobblestones. The little dog leaps into his arms and nuzzles into his chest as an eerie voice, husky and low, calls out "Bilbo..." Bilbo startles, hugging Bofur tight to his chest as he runs forward through the maze, trying to find an exit. "Bilbo..."  Thorns appear seemingly out of nowhere, forcing him out onto an empty cobblestone bridge.

"Bilbo." A man steps out of the shadows, his flesh sickly and scabbing, white robes filthy and tattered, his long white and gray beard and hair stringy and greasy. "Your Imperial Highness. Look what ten years have done to us. You a blossoming young flower. And me... A rotting corpse." With each word the man advances on Bilbo, pushing him backwards.

"That face," Bilbo says, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Last seen at a party like this one." 

"A curse..."

"Followed by a tragic night on the ice. Remember?" Green magic flows from the Palantir, held onto the man's belt with rope, covering everything around them in sickly sparkling green.

"Saruman?" Bilbo gasps out, stumbling as he steps back.

"Saruman!" The man cries, advancing until Bilbo can smell his putrid breath. "Destroyed by your despicable family! But what goes around comes around. And around, and around, and around." Saruman circles Bilbo as he says this with smoke orcs, and Wormtongue flies out from somewhere within Saruman's robes.

"Stop!" Bilbo cries as Saruman grasps his curls, ripping them out of the braids as the orcs tear at his clothing, leaving him looking haggard. "No!"

"You're on your own Sir! This can only end in tears!" Wormtongue exclaims, flapping off in a hurry. Bilbo finds his strength and steps on Saruman's foot, sending him scurrying back a few paces. 

"I'm not afraid of you!" Bilbo yells, his fiery spirit and Took brazenness speaking for him. 

"I can fix that!" Saruman cries, again grabbing Bilbo by the hair and shoving him to the other side of the bridge, cracking the pavement beneath his fallen body. "Care for a little swim under the ice?" Bilbo begins to slide down the cracked piece of the bridge towards the freezing river water. " Say your prayers Bilbo! No one can save you now." Susan cackles wickedly. 

"Wanna bet?" Thorin says coming out of nowhere and punching Saruman in the jaw. while Saruman is distracted Thorin begins pulling Bilbo up and onto the bridge.

"Thorin! How did you-"

"We can talk about this later." Thorin hauls Bilbo up to a safer position.

"How enchanting. Together again- for the last time!" Saruman sends green smoke out from the Palantir, lifting Thorin away from Bilbo and setting him atop a horse statue. As soon as he lay upon its back it turns into a terrifying beast that looks like a mutated wolf. It begins leaping around trying to shake him off, Thorin barely hanging on while Bilbo watches horrified from the edge of the bridge. When it does throw him off it begins to try to step on him with stone and metal paws. Thorin dodges the attacks and manages to roll away, trying to find something to fight it off with. 

"Thorin!" 

"Watch out!" Thorin cries, spotting Saruman rushing over to Bilbo, unable to stop him. Saruman lifts Bilbo from the edge by his hair, his repulsive breath blowing in hot spurts into Bilbo's face.

"Do svedaniya, Your Highness." He says, holding Bilbo out over the edge then dropping him as the cracked section of the bridge falls away. Bilbo grabs the edge almost missing it by a millimeter.

"Hang on!" Thorin cries, and if Bilbo wasn't currently in a life or death situation he would have glared at Thorin for making such an obvious statement. Thorin throws a large piece of rubble at the stone creature, but it does next to nothing.

"Finally, the last Took death!" Saruman crackles gleefully, the Palantir swinging on his hip. Only to cry out in pain a moment later as Bofur bites his ankle, distracting him as he shoots an orc or two at the little dog who snaps his teeth at them, turning them back to smoke.  When Saruman turns back it's to see the water rippling and Bilbo vanished from the bridge's edge. Saruman begins to cackle again as Thorin yells.

"No! Bilbo!" He tries to jump into the water but is stopped by the stone creature, pushed back into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Long live the Tooks!" Saruman calls out mockingly.

"Right! I couldn't have said it better myself!" Bilbo cries, knocking Saruman over and reaching for the Palantir. Saruman manages to push him back but doesn't see Bofur jump up behind him, snagging the Palantir's rope between his teeth and bounding over to Bilbo. He places it under his shoe and cracks the glass. Saruman screams in terror, pulling at his stringy beard. "This is for Thorin!" Bilbo presses his foot down harder.

"Give it back!" Sarumm cries.

"This is for my family!" Bilbo presses slightly harder, cracks spreading all along the Palantir's surface. 

"I'll tear you to pieces!" Saruman snarls.

"And this is for you! Do svedaniya!" Bilbo slams his foot down, the Palantir cracking completely. Saruman's screams are unholy and disturbing, ripping through the night as his rotting flesh melts away from neon green bones, which then disintegrate into dust, blown away in the wind. Bilbo sighs in relief before rushing over to Thorin, placing his head in his lap and running fingers through his long black hair. 

"Thorin!" He cries, shaking one of his shoulders carefully. "Thorin?" Tears begin to flow out of Bilbo's eyes as Bofur licks Thorin's cheek. Thorin groans as he sits up and Bilbo gasps in delight. "Thorin!" Bilbo swings himself around so he can launch himself at Thorin, wrapping his arms around him tightly.

"Ow, ow. Careful!" 

"Sorry!"

"Yeah, I know, I know, I'm a big baby."

"I thought you were leaving," Bilbo says quietly, eyes firmly fixed on his lap.

"I was."

"Why didn't you take the money? Your nephews need that you idiot!"

"I couldn't."

"Why?"

"Because I..." Thorin begins, holding his stomach, then he sighs. " They're waiting for you." He points vaguely in the direction of the Emperor's Parisian mansion his eyes locked on the crown. Bilbo sighs and shakes his head before smiling and launching himself at Thorin again.

                                        .~~~~~.

Gandalf finds Bilbo's crown and a small letter the next day on his bed, and smiles. The letter reads:

_Dear Grandpapa,_

_Wish me luck! I just have to fetch a few things and then we'll be together in Paris again. Can you look into Thorin's family tree for me, I have a feeling there might be more to him then meets the eye._

_Love,_

_Your Bilbo_

"Are they eloping? How romantic!" Dori cries, reading over Gandalf's shoulder. Gandalf's smile widens and he dabs at the corner of his eyes with a handkerchief. "I just love happy endings!" Dori says as she fetches more tea.

"It is more of a happy beginning I should think. I best get started on that family tree for Bilbo!" Gandalf says, bustling out of the bedroom towards the library. 

                                    .~~~~~~.

 Bilbo and Thorin stand on the deck of a boat, Bilbo still in his torn royal garb. Thorin bows jokingly at him and Bilbo bows back, then throws his arms around Thorin's neck, kissing him firmly on the mouth. 

\---

Wormtongue watches from an exhaust pipe on the ship, smiling despite the death of his master. A pink bat flies onto the pipe and Wormtongue gapes, his little eyes widening as she kisses him. "Wow, I tell you what wow!" Proving that even slightly wicked bats get their happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side notes:  
> -watching the maze scene and hearing rasputin huskily whisper Anastasia through tinny earphones at three in the morning is not good for heart health...  
> -The ending of this chapter almost made me squeal in unholy glee.  
> \- The next chapter is pretty much unadulterated fluffy goodness!  
> -Also I know that historically they would not be aloud to marry due to them both being males but since this is a fanfiction I figured I could suspend reality a little.


	6. Epilogue: Life is a  Road and I Wanna Keep Going

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bilbo and Thorin pick up their boys and Dwalin for the start of their new life together.

The trip back to St. Petersburg was entirely uneventful in comparison to their trip to Paris and they made good time. Bilbo had insisted on bringing a few bags when they snuck out of the palace and paid for most of the trip.

By the time they had arrived at the door to Thorin's small house in the quietest corner of St. Petersburg, Thorin had asked Bilbo if he was sure of what he was doing a thousand times. Bilbo would reassure him thoroughly and Thorin seemed appeased , only to ask again an hour or two later. 

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asks once more, staring at the old door, once painted red, but now chipping and watermarked. 

"Of course Thorin, as I have told you a thousand times before." Bilbo replies knocking on the door, paint chippings coming away on his knuckles, and he shifts Bofur in his arms to brush them off. The sound of scuffling feet and children's voices can be heard through the wood and Bilbo smiles as the door opens to reveal two young boys. The younger has wild dark hair and wide brown puppy eyes, seeming to be about the age of five, and clutching a red Dragon toy. The other is blond with neater hair and bright blue eyes like Thorin's, about ten years old, and holding his brother's hand tightly. "Hello little ones." 

"Wh- who are you?" The blond boy asks hesitantly. Bilbo bends to kneel, soaking his trouser knees in a puddle.

"My name is Bilbo, I'm going to marry your Uncle." The blond gasps, then begins to giggle as Bofur starts licking his face. 

"Where's Uncle Thorin?" The little dark-haired boy says. 

"Right here!" Thorin calls, dropping bags to embrace his nephews, who dart forward into his arms. 

"Fili! Kili! What have I told ya about leavin' the door open!" A large bald man says, coming down the hallway. He pauses when he sees Thorin. "Right, well get yer arse in here then." Thorin releases the boys and grabs the bags again, ushering Bilbo and the boys in ahead of him. When the door shuts the Man pulls Thorin into a rough hug, then turns to Bilbo. "And who's this little sprite?"

"Perhaps if you ask again, without the derogation I will inform you."

" 'Scuse me Your Highness, but who are you?" Bilbo raises an eyebrow, not at all intimidated- he had spent months with a growly Thorin after all. 

"Bilbo Took, last of the Imperial family, besides my grandpapa. Thank you for acknowleging my title." Bilbo says, smirking, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Both of the man's eyebrows raise, and he turns to Thorin to shoot him a glare.

"Ye always did pick up the strangest people."

"Oh, I assure you I picked him up, not the other way around. May I assume that you are Dwalin, Mr. Balin's brother?" The man- Dwalin- nods. The younger boy tugs on Bilbo's trousers to get his attention. "Yes little one?"

"Are you a Prince?" 

"Yes, that's exactly right! You're a very smart little boy. What's your name?"

"Kili, and that's m'brother Fili and this is my Dragon Smaug." 

"Well, it's very nice to meet you all. Now, Kili, do you think that you can keep a secret for me?" The little boy nods. "We can't tell anyone that I'm a Prince because the people in charge might be upset with me."

"Why?" Fili asks from where he sits on the floor, stroking a very happy Bofur's ears.

"Because they don't like princes or kings all that much and might try to hurt me, and you guys. So can we keep it secret?"

"Yes, Mr. Bilbo!" The boys chorus together.

"Now, none of that mister business dears, just Bilbo is fine." The boys smile and hug him, and Bilbo just laughs, wrapping an arm around each boy. 

"Not to interrupt or anything, but what exactly are you doing here?" Dwalin asks, thickly muscled arms crossed over his chest. Bilbo rolls his eyes and mimics the pose.

"Not much for sentiment, hmm? We're here to take you to Paris. Mister Balin is keen on having his brother around for his wedding after all, and my grandpapa is rather eager for me to bring my new family home. He's going to adore you two, you are just the sweetest things!" He tickles Kili as he says this, the boy's giggles infectious. 

"Wait, Balin is getting married?" Thorin asks, his brow furrowed.

"Well, Dori was showing off a rather lovely engagement ring so I should think so." 

"Dori?" Dwalin grunts out. 

"A rather lovely woman who he used to know when he was in the Imperial Court. They were sweethearts, but were seperated by many things after the Uprising. Now that they can be together again they don't see much point in waiting I suppose. She has quite the adorable younger brother, and then there's Nori, she's... unique," Bilbo says, lifting Kili up onto his hip, the child burrowing into his shoulder happily. Fili takes his uncle's hand.  

"We should leave soon, Fili can you help your brother pack his things please?" Thorin says. 

"Yes uncle Thorin!" The boy says, bounding off down the hall to his room, Kili following after Bilbo sets him down. 

"I'll just grab my things then. Dwalin?" The bald man nods, and heads off to grab his things with Thorin, leaving Bilbo standing uncomfortably in the front entrance. An hour and a half later, everything is packed and ready, and after a short stop at the landlord's house, they are off on another journey, and headed back to the Orphanage Bilbo was not all that excited to see again.

                                    .~~~~~~.

The road back towards the orphanage was no more difficult a walk then it was the last time Bilbo had taken it and he paused at the fork in the road, touching the sign with a fond smile. He senses more than hears the gasps his travelling companions let out upon viewing the orphanage that Bilbo had grown up in, and he has to admit that after palaces and mansions the run down orphanage looks like a murder house in a penny dreadful. The windows are boarded, allowing very little light in or out, the wood is rotting and stripped to its core, and all-in-all looks rather like it was sat on by a giant made of stone, leaving it squished and lopsided. The black iron gate does not look particularly welcome either, all twists and spikes and the occasional claw. "I don't like it here Uncle Thorin." Kili says quietly.

"Niether did I," Bilbo whispers, almost unheard. "Don't worry little one, we just have to get Frodo and then we can go, alright?" Kili nods, managing a weak smile for Bilbo. The group seems to take a collective deep breath and steps through the gate, Bilbo leading them as he knocks on the door. The door opens, revealing Lobelia in all her pinched-faced, upturned-nosed glory, a frown already settling on her brow. 

"My, my, and here I was thinking I'd seen the last of you when I sent you off to the fisherman's village. What do you want William?" 

"I'd like to take Frodo with me."  At that Lobelia begins to laugh. 

"With what money? Are you planning to take him to Paris as well? To find the family that abandoned you?" 

"I was not abandoned and yes, I am in fact planning on taking him to Paris with me. As for your money, here!" Bilbo drops a large sack in her hands, and she almost drops it because of the weight. "Now, I would like to see Frodo please." Lobelia nods and vanishes from the doorway, returning a moment later with a small boy, his blue eyes widening as he sees Bilbo before leaping into his arms. Lobelia shuts the door behind them and leaves the two to their moment.

"William! I missed you so much! It's been so lonely without you here, and no one else would tell me bedtime stories and Fatty Bolger kept saying that you weren't going to come back. But I knew you would! I just knew it!" Bilbo wraps his arms around the boy and spins him as he chatters on, before pressing kisses to his dark curls. 

"I missed you too Frodo my lad. But don't you worry, I'll never leave you again. And I have so many new stories to tell you. But first I think you should meet some people." Frodo then turns in Bilbo's arms, gasping as he takes in the people he had just noticed, only to squeal and wiggle out of Bilbo's arms at the sight of Bofur, as small animals seem to attract the love of children like magic. Frodo kneels in the snow and rubs the little dogs tummy, delighting in the almost purr-like sound of contentment the small dog emits. Bilbo leaves him be for a minute or two, then scoops him back up, ignoring his whine of protest. "You've yet to introduce yourself Frodo, you wouldn't want to have bad manners, would you?" The boys shakes his head and turns to the group as Bilbo puts him down, bowing his head. "Hello, I'm Frodo." Thorin steps forward first, bowing to the little boy. 

"I am Thorin. It's lovely to meet you little one." 

"Uncle Thorin and Bilbo are getting married!" Kili exclaims from Dwalin's arms. 

"Who's Bilbo?"

"That would be me Frodo my lad," Bilbo says. "You see, when I was gone I found my family in Paris and it turns out that I am actually Bilbo Took, the long lost Prince of Imperial Russia. That's why we came to get you, so that we can all be a family together in Paris! Would you like that?" 

"Yes!" Frodo launches himself at Bilbo again, wrapping his little arms tight around his legs. 

"That's good, now my lad, for the rest of group. The big man there is Mister Dwalin, he looks a little scary, but he's not so bad once you get to know him. And then there's little Kili and his big brother Fili, you should get along well with them." Frodo waves at them hesitantly, but Kili shows no such hesitation, dropping out of Dwalin's arms and hugging Frodo tight. 

"You can be my big brother too, right?" He asks, smiling up at the slightly older boy. Frodo nods and lets Kili hug him again, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. Fili slides over more slowly, less enthusiastic then his brother, but no less sincere.

"And I'll look after you cuz you're my little brother too now." He says as he hugs both boys. Bilbo and Thorin smile at the boys, feeling that their family would soon be complete.

                                 .~~~~~~.

The train ride was quiet, if a little stressful for Bilbo and- to a lesser extent- Thorin for their last train ride had not turned out very well at all. Eventually Bilbo tired of staring out the window in silence and began to sing softly.

"We were strangers, starting out on a journey. Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through. Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing at the beginning with you." Bilbo gazes at Thorin, nudging his arm.

"No one told me I was going to find you. Unexpected, what you did to my heart." Thorin tucks stray curls behind Bilbo's ears as he sings, smiling at the smaller man." When I lost hope, you were there to remind me, this is the start..." Thorin sings, taking Bilbo's hands. 

"And life is road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing. Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey. I'll be there when the world stops turning, I'll be there when the storm is through. In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you." They begin to dance together as they sing in harmony, the boys clapping in time to the melody and Dwalin rolling his eyes at the foolish display of affection. 

"We were strangers on a crazy adventure," Bilbo starts as Thorin twirls him as best he can in the small space. 

"Never dreaming how our dreams would come true." Thorin continues, pulling Bilbo in close. 

"Now here we stand, unafraid of the future, at the beginning with you." Bilbo and Thorin seperate, continuing to sing together, but scooping up different partners; Bilbo grabbing Frodo and Thorin taking Fili and Kili- one in each arm. "And life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing. Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey. I'll be there when the world starts turning, I'll be there when the storm is through, in the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you." They settle their laughing boys back into their seats, falling into each other's arms again. 

"Knew there was somebody somewhere, I need love in the dark." Thorin sings, dipping Bilbo low. 

"Now I know my dream will live on, I've been waiting so long." Bilbo continues, giggling breathlessly as Thorin pulls him up again. 

"Nothing's going to tear us apart... And life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing. Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey. I'll be there when the wold stops turning, I'll be there when the storm is through, in the end I wanna be standing at the beginning... With you... Oh, life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep going on..." They continue to dance as they sing together, spinning and twirling as elegantly as possible in the compartment, before seperating with large smiles on their faces, Bilbo sitting next to Dwalin and poking at him. 

"Starting out on a journey." Bilbo sings, smiling as he tries to get a rise out of a huffing Dwalin. 

"Life is a road and I wanna keep going, love is a river I wanna keep flowing. In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning... With you..." Thorin and Bilbo get closer with each word until they are a hair's breadth apart, and their lips meet in a sweet kiss. The boys clap and even though he grumbles about "death by sentiment" Dwalin's mouth bears a happy smile. 

After the train, the boat to France is nothing, and no storms plague their journey this time around. 

\--- 

Dropping Dwalin off at Dori's house ends up being a two day affair, what with Dori insisting they catch up and stay for meals. Fili in particular gets along well with Ori, although Kili and Frodo adore the lad as well. Nori is strangely well-behaved, if prone to subtly flirting with Dwalin, who does not look overly displeased with the notion. With several promises to visit soon Bilbo gathered his little family and left for his grandfather's mansion, hailing a car for them. 

Thorin seems to grow ever more nervous as they approach the Emperor's mansion, twisting his gloves in his hands. Bilbo settles the movement by taking Thorin's hands in his and squeezing gently. "Calm down love, everything will be fine." 

"How can you be sure?" Thorin asks quietly. 

"Faith, love, faith and knowing my grandpapa has a very well-known fondness for children and happy endings," Bilbo replies with a wry smile. The boys have none of their Uncle's trepidations and are bouncing in excitement. Indeed, the sound they made as the approached the royal mansion was the most unearthly sound of pleasure Thorin and Bilbo had ever heard. 

"Is is a castle Uncle Bilbo?" Frodo asked, all three boys having begun calling Bilbo that shortly after their departure from Russia. 

"No Frodo my lad, but it is like one isn't it?" The boy nods enthusiastically, hand pressed to the cars window.

When they enter the house a few servants take their bags and coats and Bilbo goes over them all, straightening shirts and brushing back hair. A servant comes to guide them to the Emperor's Study, bowing to Bilbo with a " Follow me Your Highness." 

"Do we gotta do that to Uncle Bilbo too?" Fili whispers loudly to Thorin, who chuckles and shakes his head. 

"Of course not my lad, you are family, and family does not bow. Unless they are distant relations of course, or if the Tsar was still alive, you would have to bow to him, but no, no bowing for you boys." Bilbo says, rambling in his excitement. The servant opens the door to the study and Bilbo enters with a nod to the servant. 

"Bilbo! My dear boy, it does my heart well to see you again," the Emperor says, taking Bilbo into his arms and kissing his forehead. 

"Hello, grandpapa! I missed you terribly!"

"And I you my dear boy. Now who are these strapping young gentlemen?" The boys shy away under the Emperor's attention, bowing clumsily. Gandalf laughs merrily and gets to his knees in front of the boys. "None of that now, you are too be family no?" He hugs each child individually, placing a kiss to the tops of their heads. Then he stands, and moves in front of Thorin, who bows to him gracefully, then lowers his head. Gandalf raises his head with a finger under his chin and smiles at him, then pulls him into a hug as well. "Twice now you have returned my Bilbo to me unharmed young man. Is there anything I can now offer you?"  Thorin looks at the Emperor in confusion, shaking his head slowly. "Then I suppose all I can give is my blessing!" Gandalf winks before heading over to his desk for some papers. 

"Grandpapa, did you get a chance to look into that thing I requested?" 

"Yes, I did my dear boy. It took a lot of digging through servants' records and then through noble bloodlines, but I found something of interest." 

"Oh, and what was that?"

"Thorin, born to a single mother working in the palace, was the son of Thrain Durin, who was descended from the third Imperial Dynasty of Russia." 

"I knew it! And soThorin is in fact of noble blood and therefore we can be married?" Bilbo looks incredibly smug and more than a little giddy. 

"Of course you can dear." Thorin lets out an uncharacteristic roar of excitement and picks Bilbo up and spins him, peppering his face and lips with chaste kisses. Their boys find the sight incredibly amusing, giggling behind their hands, and Gandalf watches with a fond twinkle in his eye, certain of this tale's happy ending. 

                                   .~~~~~~~.

_**THE END** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how does everyone feel about a Bartok the Magnificent fusion? My brother put the idea in my head... :) First complete fic ever! Feels both good and strange at the same time! Hope you guys liked it :)


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